Method of making beaded welting for shoes



Sept. 25, 1956 L. H. GEMME 2,763,373

METHOD OF MAKING BEADED WELTING FOR SHOES Filed Nov. 3; 1954 c 1.? Z6 2;l 1

7A? Z6076 fi Gem 9% *M 1 [9A4 (175g United States Patent O METHOD OFMAKING BEADED WELTING FOR SHOES Leon H. Gemme, Worcester, Mass, assignorto L. Farber Welting Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application November 3, 1954, Serial No. 466,644

2 Claims. (Cl. 12-146) This invention relates to making welt strips andmore especially to a method of making bead welting and has for itsprincipal object to provide an improved method of manufacture of twowelt strips from a single fillet of corresponding or different widthsand at the same time to employ the fundamental principles of effectingeconomy in manufacture described in my copending applications Serial No.466,641, filed November 3, 1954, Serial No. 466,642, filed November 3,1954, and Serial No. 466,643, filed November 3, 1954.

'According to the invention the starting strip as herein illustrated ismade somewhat wider than the combined widths of the two strips to beproduced and this is operated upon in such fashion that the amount inexcess of the width of the strips to be produced is divided between themto add substance to the bead forming flap of each strip. To this end apair of spaced parallel cuts are made in the starting strip intermediateits lateral edges, which are substantially perpendicular to the top andbottom surfaces. One of the perpendicular cuts has but a single coursewhich starts at the bottom of the starting strip, travels substantiallyvertically upward and terminates above the median plane. The other has avertical course, both ends of which terminate between the surfaces andhas lateral courses at its opposite ends connecting it to the oppositesurfaces of the strip so as to effect division thereof. One of thelateral courses enters the top surface of the starting strip and travelsdownwardly and laterally to the upper end of the vertical course and theother starts in the bottom of the strip and travels upwardly to thelower end of the vertical course. The aforesaid cuts separate the stripinto two independent welt strips, each of which has a substantiallyvertical inner edge supplemented byan extension integral therewith whichis borrowed from the opposite strip and part of the intermediatesubstance in excess of the width of the strips. Separation of' the weltflaps is effected by making cuts which travel upwardly and outwardlyfrom the base of each strip at its inner edge beyond the median plane soas to separate the inner edges into two layers. Each lower layerconstitutes a shelf and has upwardly facing inclined and horizontalsurfaces. Each upper layer constitutes a bead forming flap whichincludes the borrowed extension, has a hinge portion of less thanone-half the thickness of the strip connecting it to the strip and acore portion of greater thickness than one-half the thickness of thestrip. The borrowed extension provides an anchoring tab and in settingup the bead the hinge is bent upwardly and doubled on itself, the coreis seated on the horizontal surface of the shelf and the tab adhesivelysecured to the inclined surface of the shelf.

In the description of the procedure for making the welt strip producedin accordance with the method outlined, it is to be understood that theorder or sequence of steps in making the cuts for separating thestarting strip or fillet into separate welt strips, separation of theinner or sewing edge to provide a shoulder and bead flap and setting upand forming the bead is not to be interpreted as limiting Patented Sept.25, 1956 in any respect for it is intended to be within the scope of theinvention to transpose, combine or separate the steps or the order ofsteps in whatever fashion is deemed most expedient for economicalmanufacture.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a vertical section through a fillet which has been operatedupon by cutting to divide it into two welt strips prior to separation ofthe strips;

Fig. 2 shows the welt strips of Fig. 1 separated from each other withthe flaps partially lifted from the subjacent shoulders;

Fig. 3 shows the welt strips with the flaps folded and secured to theshoulders to provide beads; and

Fig. 4 is a view corresponding to Fig. 1 showing the bead forming cutsstarting in the lower surfaces of the strip outwardly of their commoninner edges.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown in cross section a starting strip 10which is usually in the form of a substantially endless strip of goodquality firm leather of substantially rectangular cross section havingparallel surfaces 12 and 14 which are respectively grain and flesh andsquare outer edges 16 and 18. For the purpose of this invention thestarting strip is made wider than the combined width of the two stripsto be cut therefrom. Solely as an example without limitation, the widthof the starting strip is increased by of an inch, so that its overallwidth is 1 of an inch. From this starting strip two /2 inch welt stripsare produced.

In accordance with the procedure for making the welt strips from thestarting strip, cuts are made in the strip which include portions 24 and26 which are preferably substantially equidistant from the longitudinalcenter line c-c (Fig. 1) of the starting strip and from the lateralouter edges thereof so that they include between them the excessmaterial. It is to be understood, however, that the portions of the cuts24 and 26 are not necessarily located equally distant from oppositesides of the median plane but may be shifted to the right or left thereof to permit making one of the strips wider or narrower than the other.The cut 26 has a single course which starts in the bottom of the filletand travels vertically upwardly beyond the median plane terminating atits upper end approximately of the way through the strip. The cut whichincludes the portion 24 has a vertical course which is located betweenthe surfaces and has at its upper and lower ends lateral courses 28 and30. The course 28 enters the top of the starting strip at the left-handside of the longitudinal center line and travels downwardly above theupper end of the course 26 and across the longitudinal center line tothe upper end of the vertical portion 24. The course 30 enters thebottom of the strip and travels upwardly toward the longitudinal centerline to the lower end of the vertical portion 24. Thus the surplussubstance between the portions 24 and 26 is added to the left-hand stripwhile that above is added to the right-hand strip. The cut made up ofthe portions 24, and courses 28 and 30 divides the starting strip intotwo welt strips 20 and 22, having a common inner edge 24 and one ofwhich has an extension 21 and the other an extension 23 integraltherewith which was borrowed from the substance of the opposite strip.The divided strips are each operated upon to provide bead forming flapsby making cuts which travel upwardly and outwardly from their inneredges. As shown in Fig. 1 the cut in the lefthand strip has an inclinedcourse 32 and a horizontal course 34 which divides the inner edge intotwo layers, the lower one of which constitutes a shelf 36 and hasupwardly facing inclined and horizontal surfaces and the upper one ofwhich constitutes a bead forming flap 38. The inclined course 32 isstarted just to the right of the lower end of the course 26 so as to cutthe heel from the extensiontz'l and .make the lower edgeof'the'shelf'blunt rather than a feather. The small strip removed by thecut is negligible. The bead forming flap is connected to the strip by ahinge 40 of lesser thickness than onehalf the thickness of the strip,has a core 4220f greater thickness than one-half the thickness ofthe-strip and: the extension 21 which is integral therewith provides anattaching tab. When the bead is set upon. the shelf the bead formingflap is folded upwardly on its hinge 40,. the core is seated on thehorizontal surface of the shelf with the surface 44 in contacttherewith. and the extension 21 is laid against the inclined surfacethereof. As. illustrated in Fig. 4 the cut .32 in the left-hand stripmay be started in the lower surface at the left-hand side ofthecutl 26thereby increasing both the thickness and height of the bead.

Theright-hand strip is operated uponin a similar manner by making a. outhaving an inclined. course 46 and .a horizontal course v48 therebyseparating the inner edge of. the strip into two layers, the lower ofwhich constitutes a shelf 50 having upwardly facing inclined andhorizontal surfaces and the upper layer of which constitutes -a beadform-ing flap 52. The bead forming flap is connected by a hinge 54 tothe strip which is of less than one-half the thickness of the strip, hasa core 56 of greater thickness than one-half the thickness of the stripand includes the extension 23 which forms the attaching tab. To set thehead up the flap is lifted on its hinge 54 so as to seatthe core on thehorizontal surface with the surface 58 in con.- tact therewith and theextension 23 laid against. the in.- clinerl-surface thereof. Adhesive isemployed'tounite' the parts and pressure may be employed to mold thebead to proper shape. The heightwise position of the cut 46 in'th'eright-hand strip of course may be varied with an increase in thethickness of the bead as it approaches the corner. If it is started asit may be, in the lower surface of the strip as shown in Fig. 4 ratherthan in the edge face the thickness and height of the bead may beincreased still more.

The resulting bead 60 (Fig. 3) in each case rises substantiallyvertically from the upper surface of the welt,

has a rounded top and an inclined inner surface having 7 The stitchgroove at the bottom side of the strip may be made at any time duringthe manufacture.

As previously stated the order of making the cuts is of relativelyunimportance so long as they are made in such fashion as to divide thestrips and separate the bead flaps in the manner disclosed to permitforming the beads. Accordingly the sequence of: steps as recited in theappended claims is not intended to be limiting.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall withinthe'scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making two bead welt strips from a single startingstrip comprising making cuts in the starting strip, one of said cutshaving a single course which starts at the bottom of the strip andtravels upwardly beyond the median plane, the other of which has anintermediate course spaced from the single courseand whose endsterminate between the top and bottom of. the strip, said. secondmentioned out having laterally and oppositely extending courses atopposite ends of the intermediate course, one of which enters the topsurface of the starting strip at one side of. the center line, travelsdownwardly above the upper end of the first named course. to the upperend of. the-intermediate course, and the other one: of. which. entersthe bottom of the strip at the opposite side of the center line andtravels upwardly to the lower end of the intermediate course, saidsecond mentioned cut separating the starting strip into two independentwelt strips.

2.. The method of making two bead welt strips from a. single startingstrip comprising making cuts in the starting strip, one of said cutshaving a single straight course which starts at thebottomof. the stripand travels upwardly beyond the median plane, the other of which has anintermediate course parallel to the single course of the first cut andwhose .ends terminate between the. top and bottom of the strip, saidcourses being equidistant from the center line of the starting strip,said second mentioned out having laterally and oppositely extendingcourses at opposite ends of the intermediate course, one of which entersthe top surface of the starting strip at one side of the center line;travels downwardly above the upper end of the first named. course to theupper end of the intermediate course, and the other end of which entersthe bottom of the strip at the opposite side of the center lineand.travels. upwardly to the lower end of the intermediate course, saidsecond mentioned cut separating the starting strip into twoindependentwelt strips.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,142,228 Vizard Ian. 3, 1939,

